“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l

Thursday, May 3, 2012

89 Year Old Kaliver Rebbe engaged to 55 year old lady


The Kaliver Rebbe, HaRav Menachem Mendel Taube Shlita has become a Chosson. The rebbe, 89, is engaged to Moras Sheindel Malinik, 55, of Kiryas Herzog in Bnei Brak.
The rebbe is well known for his Shema Yisrael Center in Yerushalayim and his emphasis on teaching all Jewish children to recite Shema, realizing that the modern State of Israel has wiped this posuk and a frum lifestyle from the minds of millions of children R”L. The rebbe has also opened a Holocaust Museum called ‘Shema Yisrael’, a tribute to the kedoshim of the Holocaust HY”D designed specifically for the chareidi tzibur.
Rebitzen Chana Sara ob”m was nifteres erev Chanukah.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Obama's New Campaign Slogan "Forward" is a Hitler Youth Marching Tune, Video


Seal from the First Bais Hamikdash found with Hebrew lettering


An archaeological work in the 2,000 year-old drainage channel between the City of David and the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, remains were discovered of the building closest to the First Temple exposed so far in archaeological excavations.

The remains of a building dating to the end of the First Temple period were discovered below the base of the ancient drainage channel that is currently being exposed in Israel Antiquities Authority excavations beneath Robinson’s Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. This building is the closest structure to the First Temple found to date in archaeological excavations.

In the excavations, underwritten by the Ir David Foundation, a personal Hebrew seal from the end of the First Temple period was discovered on the floor of the ancient building. The seal is made of a semi-precious stone and is engraved with the name of its owner:
"Lematanyahu Ben Ho…" ("למתניהו בן הו..." meaning: "Belonging to Matanyahu Ben Ho…")
The rest of the inscription is erased.

From the very start of the excavations in this area the archaeologists decided that all of the soil removed from there would be meticulously sifted (including wet-sifting and thorough sorting of the material remnants left in the sieve). This scientific measure is being done in cooperation with thousands of pupils in the Tzurim Valley National Park. It was during the sieving process that the tiny seal was discovered.

People used personal seals in the First Temple period for the purpose of signing letters and they were set in a signet ring. The seals served to identify their owner, just as they identify officials today.
According to Eli Shukron, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "the name Matanyahu, like the name Netanyahu, means giving to God.

These names are mentioned several times in the Bible. They are typical of the names in the Kingdom of Judah in latter part of the First Temple period - from the end of the eighth century BCE until the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE. To find a seal from the First Temple period at the foot of the Temple Mount walls is rare and very exciting. This is a tangible greeting of sorts from a man named Matanyahu who lived here more than 2,700 years ago. We also found pottery sherds characteristic of the period on the floor in the ancient building beneath the base of the drainage channel, as well as stone  collapse and evidence of a fire."

Monday, April 30, 2012

Frum 22 Year old girl killed on hiking trip in Mohonk Mountains near New Paltz, UPDATE!


Stephanie Prezant A"H
UPDATED April 30, 2012 4:20PM
On April 29, 2012, the New York State Police at Highland investigated a fatal rock climbing accident that occurred at the Mohonk Preserve in Gardiner, NY. At approximately 1:30 PM, Stephanie Prezant, age 22, of Haworth N.J., was part of a group climbing on the Trapps Cliff section of the Preserve. Prezant had successfully ascended the climb and was returning to the cliff base when she fell, striking her head on the rocks below. Prezant was treated at the scene and transported to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY where she died of injuries sustained in the fall. Assisting at the scene were Mohonk Preserve Rangers, Mobile Life and Gardiner Fire Department personnel.

Tragedy has struck the frum community once again, with the tragic death of a young woman. According to initial reports, the single, 22-year-old girl was on a hiking trip at Mohonk Mountain House, near New Paltz, when the accident happened, Sunday afternoon.
She was rushed to St Francis Hospital, where she was R”L pronounced dead.
Rabbi Joel Gold, Chaplain at Ulster County Sheriff Dept is working to ensure that proper Kavod is given to the Nifteres.
Misaskim is enroute to the hospital as well.
Further details will be published pending proper family notification.
Boruch Dayan Emmes…

Friday, April 27, 2012

Neshama Carlebach records Hatikvah with changes to the lyrics to include Arabs




She is getting crazier and crazier, first she  mixed ancient Jewish tropes with the pulsating rhythms of an African American Baptist choir,  pushing the boundaries of expectation, and now she decided to insult the intelligence of the Israeli People!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Yom Hazikoron! Video!


As Israel prepares to begin its Yom Hazikaron [Memorial Day] observance on Tuesday evening many bereaved families are reminded their lives contain a vacuum.


One such famlily is that of former Lt. Colonel Yehuda Ben Shabbat, who served in the IDF Northern Command until he unexpectedly died of a heart attack eight years ago.
Father, son, husband, and brother - Ben Shabbat's tragic passing affected three generations in profound ways.
Natalie Leiba, Ben Shabbat's sister, told Arutz Sheva that every year Yom Hazikaron presents a difficult emotional challenge for the amily.
"It's horrible for us," she said. "Not just Memorial Day, every year. It's like a nightmare. Life changes dramatically, and then the holidays are no longer holidays."
"You feel the void, especially in the case of person who played a powerful role in our lives and united the whole family," Leiba said.
"We have not referred to what we were," she said. "Mother is not mother. She was strong, but today she is a wreck, and father died of grief at 63."
"I lost an amazing brother," she said. "Every year at this time I lose focus for a few days. I cannot think of anything else. The memories well up. It is impossible to describe the loss."
Yom Hazikaron is not only the day on which Israel honors its fallen soldiers, but also those killed in terror attacks by those seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.
Memorial services are held in cemetaries, government buildings, military bases, schools, and private venues to honor the dead and remind the Jewish nation of the cost of freedom and national sovereignty in its ancestral homeland.
Beginning at sundown on Tuesday, Yom Hazikaron will continue until sundown on Wednesday, when Israel's 64th Independence Day celebration will begin.

Never-before-seen photos from 100 years ago of New York

Delancy Street on New York's Lower East Side in this photo dated July 29, 1908

The headline of the newspaper the man is reading in this May 18, 1940 photo reads: 'Nazi Army Now 75 Miles From Paris.' This picture shows the corner of Sixth Avenue and 40th Street in Manhattan


The Third Avenue elevated train rumbles across lower Manhattan in this undated photo. City Hall can be seen in the background

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134408/Never-seen-photos-100-years-ago-tell-vivid-story-gritty-New-York-City.html#ixzz1t05bNHL5

Urban Outfitters Under Fire over ‘Holocaust T-Shirt’


Fashion retailer Urban Outfitters is facing outcry from Jewish groups over a t-shirt critics say is an offensive reference to the Holocaust.

The yellow shirt features an embroidered, six-pointed star over the breast pocket, and bears unfortunate overtones of the yellow badge Jewish people were forced to wear under the Nazi regime. Designed by the Danish label Wood Wood (whose spring/summer collection makes use of the same symbol), the $100 shirt appeared on the  Urban Outfitters website last Thursday, in the same week as Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day. Some detractors believe that this was not a coincidence.
“We find this use of symbolism to be extremely distasteful and offensive, and we are outraged that your company would make this product available to your customers,” Barry Morrison, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote in a letter to the chairman of the Philadelphia-based retail firm.
As of this writing the shirt is still available; its page does not feature an acknowledgement of or apology for the scandal by the company, although the ‘Social’ section for the item is brimming with angry comments from both Jewish and non-Jewish viewers. The shirt is “mindblowingly offensive”, one reviewer noted. “I am never stepping foot in one of these stores again,” another wrote.
This is not the first time Urban Outfitters has been embroiled in a racism scandal. The semi-autonomous Native American Navajo Nation sued the store earlier this year for its Navajo underwear and hip-flasks, which the tribe deemed “derogatory and scandalous.”
In February, the store also came under fire from Irish American spokesman Seamus Boyle, president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, for selling t-shirts bearing slogans such as “Irish I was Drunk,” which Boyle described as “arrogance and disrespect to a whole nation.”
UPDATE: T-shirt designer Wood Wood has responded to the criticism, noting that the offending star-like image only appears on a prototype of the t-shirt and not on the final product:


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/23/urban-outfitters-under-fire-over-holocaust-t-shirt/#ixzz1t01q2poN

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Teenager declared brain-dead by FOUR doctors makes miracle recovery moments before life support machine was switched off after father plead for second opinion


  • Steven Thorpe awoke from 2-week coma after car crash that killed a man

  • His devastated parents were even asked to consider donating his organs

  • Doctors found signs of life only after his father begged them to recheck him

  • A teenager who was declared brain dead by four doctors made a ‘miracle’ recovery after his parents begged medics for a second opinion - moments before his life support was to be switched off.
    Doctors described Steven Thorpe as 'truly a unique case' after he awoke from a two-week coma following a multiple car crash that claimed the life of his schoolfriend.
    Steven, then 17, was traveling in a Citroen Saxo with pals Matthew Jones, 18, and Harry Dipper in the early hours of February 1 2008 when a stray horse ran into the path of the car ahead.
    Unable to dodge the beast, the car flipped in front of them and back-seat passenger Matthew was flung into the road in the pile up that ensued, which also included a black cab. He never recovered from his injuries.
    Steven, who is now 21, was placed in a chemically-induced coma and doctors said he would never recover - they even asked his devastated parents to consider donating his organs.
    But Steven’s father begged doctors to reconsider and even enlisted private GP Julia Piper to examine him again after being convinced that their son could recover.
    Doctors at University Hospital in Coventry, West Midlands, agreed to let a neurologist re-examine him and, astonishingly, he detected faint brain waves indicating Steven had a slim chance of making a recovery.
    NHS chiefs agreed to bring Steven out of his coma to see if he could survive on his own and he stunned medics by making an almost full recovery.
    Incredibly, just five weeks later Steven was discharged from hospital.
    Speaking about his amazing recovery for the first time, Steven, now aged 21 and a trainee accountant, said: 'My father believed I was still there.
    Steven with Dr Julia Piper who saved his life in Leicester. She made doctors take a second look at him before making the final decision to switch his life-support machine off

    'He expressed his views to Julia Piper and I think she listened very closely to what my dad had said.
    'My impression is maybe the hospital weren’t very happy that my father wanted a second opinion.
    'I think the doctors wanted to give me three days on the life support machine and the following day they said they wanted to turn it off.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134346/Teenager-declared-brain-dead-FOUR-doctors-makes-miracle-recovery-moments-life-support-machine-switched-mother-pleads-second-opinion.html#ixzz1sxdKLivY